Across the Great Divide

About the Book

Set on the fictitious island of St. Georges, Across the Great Divide exposes the divisions caused by race and socio-economic circumstances and explores the ability of the human spirit to bridge the divide. The story chronicles the struggles of ordinary people and their response to the inequities around them. Elizabeth, a recently widowed Canadian school teacher, has come to the small Caribbean island in search of healing. Josef, an impoverished Haitian laborer, is shipwrecked off St. Georges and finds himself struggling to survive in a hostile environment.

Their lives become intertwined as they both care for a Haitian woman dying of AIDS. The unfolding drama takes the reader on a journey through the sweeping landscape of Haiti and probes the quiet recesses of the soul, provoking the reader to examine his own response to the human condition. This spiritual love story is a metaphor of hope for us all.

About the Author

Nora Ryan

The author was born and educated in Ireland. She immigrated to Canada in 1980 with her husband and two small children. An educator and health promotion specialist, her special interest area is in parenting/mentoring and family life. Nora Ryan currently lives in Sioux Lookout North Western Ontario.

Two years living on a small island in the Caribbean, provided the inspiration for her first novel Across the Great Divide." The novel provides a vehicle to expose the divisions caused by race and socio-economic circumstances and explores the ability of the human spirit to bridge the divide.

Nora Ryan is a pen name. The author has chosen this name to honor her paternal grandmother who was born in an age when women did not have a voice.

She has also written a collection of short stories set on the islands, called Cracked Conch, also available through Trafford Publishing.

Please visit Nora's website at www.noraryanbooks.com